Our last day in Amsterdam

We started our day with a visit to the Rijk Museum which we enjoyed.  Again  our early timeslot paid off. It was getting very busy when we left.

We saw Rembrandts “Night Watch”. My dear sister – I hope that you are proud of my art knowledge!

It was sunny in Amsterdam today, and a little warmer, so we walked through Vondelpark, which is a massive area with parks, little lakes and some coffee shops. It was lovely as long as we kept out of the wind! There were runners, walkers, children playing,  lots of dogs, and of course lots of bicycles!

We are still amazed at the number of bicycles you see! Apparently about 10,000 bicycles are dumped into the canals each year, whether deliberately or not, I am not sure!

A road in Amsterdam consists of 2 lanes for cars, 2 lanes for trams, 2 lanes for bicycles and a pavement for pedestrians. Crossing can be quite complicated!

We walked around buying some last bits and bobs, enjoying the streets, canals and houses and found a stroopwaffel shop. (We thought that we had eaten a stroopwaffel earlier but that was a normal waffle!

A stroopwaffel is a flat crisp waffle, with syrup in the middle and toppings of your choice on the top. Oh my word, it was my sugar intake for the week, but it was delicious!

We then headed back to collect our luggage and head for the airport, which is where we are now.

We have had the most awesome trip, we are blessed to have had the opportunity. We have made memories which we will have with us forever!

My highlight was definitely the tulips at Keukenhof. Williams was Chur with the snow and the magnificent views – and watching me land on my butt!

We are glad that we went everywhere we did, but probably won’t bother going back to Paris in a hurry!

We were warned about how rude the Parisians were, well we found the Italians to be way worse!

We have enjoyed hearing so many different languages, seeing so many different cultures.

We have been amazed at how well trains, busses, metros and trams work. If only SA had a safe public transport system that works, it would be so beneficial to all.  We have enjoyed walking around at night feeling safe.

It has been an experience we will always treasure!

Amsterdam Day 2 – Saturday 20th April 2024

Today we took a coach tour to Edam, Volendam and Zaanse Schans.  Our tour guide had verbal diarrhoea!  We were sitting the front row of the bus and if he wasn’t talking through the microphone, he was talking to the driver, who judging by the look on the driver’s face (through the mirror) was saying PLEASE BELT UP!

Our first stop was Edam – the town that is known for Edam Cheese.  We walked around the town – a typical old style Dutch town.  We then went to a cheese making demonstration and tasting. There were cheeses of all kinds – from sheep’s milk to garlic cheese, from whiskey cheese to pesto cheese – you name it, it was there for tasting.  Some were delicious and some were not!  I think that the worst one was the whiskey cheese – which I would like to add William, the whiskey drinker, also thought was awful!

From there we travelled to Volendam – known for fish.  The town is about 30 m below sea level so a huge dyke surrounds the coastal side of the town.  Houses that were built before the dyke was built have now extended up so that they have a view over the dyke, and others have been built on the dyke.  It was freezing cold again, and there on the pier at Volendam were a bride and groom, having photos taken.  The bride must have been freezing in her strappy dress!  I had some local seafood for lunch – William had Dutch Pancakes – which are like our flapjacks.  The seafood was lovely – crab, fish, squid and shrimps.  SA calamari (squid) is much nicer, in my opinion!  We enjoyed walking along the dyke in our free time looking at the different house structures etc.

Our last stop of our tour was at Zaanse Schans – a windmill town which has been preserved to look like it apparently did 500 years ago.  When our bus parked there were 20 other busses there, and heaps of cars as well, so it was very crowded.  We went to a clog making demonstration which was very interesting.  The guy made a clog while we were watching with machinery which is similar to key cutting machinery – ie it copies the master piece.  Very interesting,  The guy then blew into the clog and water sprayed out – illustrating how much water there was in the wood.  The clog now has to dry before being finished.   Clogs are still worn when working on the land, as they are practical with the land being so wet.  Apparently they are comfortable.  The shop sold clogs of all sorts – very interesting.  William and I walked to the windmills – unfortunately there is only one that you can enter – at a price with a long queue – so seeing as we had been into a windmill yesterday at Keukenhof, we decided to give it a skip.  It was interesting to see this little village but would have been better with fewer people around.  Our coach, with our verbal diarrhoea guide, then brought us back to Amsterdam

I know that I can talk, but this guide exhausted even me!

We are both over this freezing weather – even the locals are complaining about it!

We had some supper and are climbing into bed.

Tomorrow is our last day here – we fly out at 21.30. 

We have had a wonderful trip in Europe – I will probably type the last blog tomorrow night at the airport.

Amsterdam Day 1 – Friday 19th April 2024

Today we left put hotel very early to catch a bus to the airport to connect with our bus to Keukenhof – the world famous tulip gardens.

Since doing a project in about Std 3 about Holland, I always dreamt about seeing the tulips of Amsterdam.  Well, today my dream has come true.  

We arrived at Keukenhof at about 8am. It was bitterly cold, and off we went into the gardens.

7,000,000 bulbs are planted by hand every year.

The gardens are everything we had seen in pictures and more!

We walked and walked and walked. Around every corner there were more flowers, more colours and more varieties. The flowers are not all tulips – there are some daffodils, some hyacinths, and a few others, but mainly tulips.

In the early morning we walked for ages without seeing anyone. Absolute bliss!  As the day wore on, the crowds got more and more and more!

During the morning it poured so we put our plastic poncho jackets over us and continued walking.  Nothing was going to deter us!

We took a short boat ride, in the rain, through the canals to see the tulip fields which are nearing the end of the season due to the bad weather.

Our apologies for so many pictures,  but it was too beautiful not to share!

We caught our bus back to Amsterdam and then the trams back to the hotel, where we tried to thaw out a bit.

When we left again, we went armed with beanies and gloves. Our next visit was to the Heineken Brewery for a tour.  Clearly this was high up on William’s list, but it was very interesting.  We were given 4 tokens for beers after the tour, and we had tasters during the tour, which I tried!  So proud of myself as I am not a beer drinker!  I thought that if William drank all 4 beers he was going to spend the night going to the loo, but he decided after 1 beer to give the other 3 tokens to some youngsters, who were very grateful!

Did you know that a Heineken beer is 95% water, so I suppose it is very healthy!

We had some supper, and set off looking for the red light district. You cannot visit Amsterdam without going to the red light district! Well, it was everything we had heard and read about!

As with all things like this, it is very sad that this is what some people have had to/chosen to do.

The red light district and Old Amsterdam were buzzing tonight, even though it was raining and freezing! Very entertaining!

We then caught our trams (very, very full) and headed back. Tired and cold! The photo on the right is Amsterdam Central Station.

But what a wonderful day we had.

Often when you have wanted to do something for so long, when it actually happens it is a letdown. Well this, I can assure you was not!

Au revoir  Paris – Hallo Amsterdam  – Thursday 18th April 2024

We left our apartment this morning literally sliding our cases down the wooden stairs.  We were pleased to see the end of that accommodation!

We boarded the Eurostar to Amsterdam. Our route took us via Brussels, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

We arrived at Schipol Airport at lunchtime.  After grabbing some lunch we found a bus to take us to our hotel.

What a stunning hotel we have – clean, spacious (in European terms) and quiet. We feel like we have hit the jackpot!

After settling in, we found our way into Amsterdam Central via 2 trams. Most commuting here appears to be on trams.

There are bicycles everywhere!  Most don’t stop for anything or anyone. There is bicycle parking everywhere.  There are bicycle parkades. They have recently opened a new underground one for 10,000 bicycles, and there were only about 3,500 open spaces, according to the notice.

We got tickets to go on a Canal Cruise, which was very interesting. The couple sitting in front of us were from Jo’burg – so we chatted to them.

Some houses are known as the dancing house, as they have moved so much over time that they are now skew.  In the 17^th century, the maximum width you were allowed for your house was 6m – the house could be built up a number of stories and back as far as the land would allow.

One canal leads into 7 canals alone.

All houses are propped up by the next house, failing which they would all collapse. The wooden poles which support the foundations are fine, until the water level drops. The poles coming into contact with air starts the rotting process. As a result they now try and regulate the water levels in the canals.

After having a warm drink – it was freezing cold – we boarded a ferry to cross the canal.  Here these ferries are free for cyclists and bicycles, pedestrians and these dinky little cars that drive on. (When I say dinky, these cars would make Lucy (my Honda Brio) look like a double cab bakkie in relation to the size!)

We then went up to A’dam lookout – it was originally built by Shell, but when they pulled out of The Netherlands,  it was revamped and is now a hotel, offices, revolving restaurant and lookout point.  It was bitterly cold up there but the views were great!  It is 20 floors up and the lift takes 22 seconds to get there.

Back on ground level we walked around Old Amsterdam, before taking 2 trams back to our hotel.  William found the Liverpool match on tv – with Dutch commentary – and I did some work.

Tomorrow is tulip day!